A declaration of independence is a
proclamation of the independence of a newly formed or reformed
country
from part or the whole of the territory of another, or a document
containing such a declaration. Declarations of independence are
generally made by one side without the consent of the previous
government, and hence are often called unilateral declaration of
independence or UDI.

In
international law, unilateral declarations of independence are
generally frowned upon, since preservation of territory is one of the
few things that the countries of the world universally agree on.
Declaring independence or supporting such a declaration is seen as a
hostile act, that may easily lead to
war.

Many states have come into being through an act of UDI.
The legality of a UDI is often the subject of debate and unsurprisingly
the previous government typically asserts that a UDI is illegal. Often,
international bodies and other countries decline at first to accept the
legitimacy of the declared state and its government. If the declared
state becomes a functioning entity, it may gain diplomatic recognition
over time and a form of backdated legitimacy. Not all such declarations
result in actual states and those governments that do result from UDIs
do not always survive and are often rivaled by the previous government.
A significant number of unilaterally declared governments collapse or
otherwise give way, with control returning to the previous government or
shifting to a new follow-on government.

Katanga, a former a province of
Belgian Congo, broke away with an UDI in
1960,
when Congo was granted its independence. The attempted break away
ended by the implementation of a
UN
supervised National Conciliation Plan in January
1963.

Rhodesia (Ian
Smith's white minority government) declared UDI from the
United Kingdom in 1965. Few states accepted its legitimacy. The
UDI Rhodesian state was ultimately replaced under the
Lancaster House Agreement by a restored British regime under a
governor,
Lord Soames. Within a short time, a new much more-widely
recognized independent state,
Zimbabwe, came into existence.

Guinea Bissau, formerly Portuguese Guinea, declared independence
from
Portugal in
1973,
which was recognized by many countries, before Portugal formally
granted independence in
1974.

East Timor, formerly Portuguese Timor, declared independence
from Portugal on November 28,
1975,
which was recognized by several countries including
China,
but not by neighboring
Australia, or by
Indonesia, which invaded on December 7 1975, and annexed it as
its '27th province' on July 17,
1976.

In many cases, independence is achieved without a
declaration of independence but instead has occurred by bilateral
agreement. An example of this were the components of the
British Empire, most parts of which achieved independence through
negotiation with the
United Kingdom.

One notable non-declaration of independence has been
Taiwan,
which is administered by the
Republic of China. A formal declaration that Taiwan is independent
of China
has been one of conditions under which the
People's Republic of China would use force against Taiwan. The
political status of Taiwan remains controversial, and the position
of most supporters of
Taiwan independence has been since the Taiwan has never been a part
of the PRC, and the governing institutions (of the ROC) function as an
independent and sovereign state, there is no need to formally declare
Taiwan to be independent. Supporters of
Chinese reunification on Taiwan also see no point in a declaration
of independence in that they argue that Taiwan is and should be part of
a greater entity cultural entity of
China,
and a new
Republic of Taiwan would only bring about a name change in exchange
for a communist invasion attempt Taiwan could little afford.